Lesson Overview This is a 2 day lesson that is designed to access students’ prior knowledge regarding the cell an enable them to form connections between the biological definition of what a cell is to familiar types of “cells” they encounter in their lives. During this lesson the students will also generate questions relating to the subject of cells. These questions will be used as research questions that will be presented in class and also be used daily throughout the lesson as opening exercises. Objectives: Students will be able to...
Create connections between the "living" cell and other types of cells they encounter in everyday life.
Construct meaningful questions regarding the subject of cells.
Investigate these questions using both print and on-line resources.
Present their findings to the class citing evidence
Materials
Dry erase board with markers
Computer Lab (Day 1)
Links to Resources
Safety Issues Safety issues that relate to this lesson revolve mostly around the students’ use of the on-line resources. Students will have to be monitored to ensure the sites that they are viewing are those that are relevant to the topic they are researching and do not contain any inappropriate content.
Instructions: Day 1 Opening I will start off by saying how the word cell is one of those words that can be used in a variety of ways. I will then instruct them to make a list of any other type of cells they can think of. While they are doing this I will take attendance. I will then ask them to name some of the different types of cells they came up with. I will be expecting to hear examples such as, a cell phone, jail cell, fuel cell, terrorist cell, etc. Their responses will be written on the board. I will then ask based on all these uses of the word cell and your knowledge of what a biological cell is, what connections can be made? What does the word cell mean? I will record their responses on the board; I will be looking for responses such as, a part, unit, compartment, holding separately, etc. We will then discuss how the biological cell is similar to the other cell examples they gave. I will then lead the discussion towards finding out what questions they have regarding the subject of cells. These questions will be written on the board and I will also propose a few of my own. Learning Activities The students will then be broken up into pairs. The questions will be numbered and I will write down the numbers on a slip of paper and go around to each group to have them pick which question they are to research. As a group they are to use the rest of the class period (30min) and the resources provided (their textbook and the internet) to research their group’s question. They will all individually be responsible to write their own summation of what they found and the source. As a group they will be responsible to present this information in a cohesive manner to the class the following day.
Closing In closing I will review our earlier discussion about cells and our connections we made to "cells" we encounter every day. I will reiterate the homework, which is for each group research their question, write an individual summation of the information and present their findings to the class. I will ask if there are any questions.
Assessment Assessments for this lesson are informal; they will be based on the students’ participation in the discussions and formulation of the research questions.
Homework The homework will be to finish researching their groups question, write a summation of the information and prepare a short presentation for the class.
Instructions: Day 2 Opening At the beginning of this lesson I will go over the plans for the day. They will get into their groups and be given 5min to go over their presentation, at the end of each presentation they are to hand in their group paper, if they have one, and their individual papers. They will be expected to take notes during the presentations and to write down any questions they want to address during the end discussion. When all the presentations are finished we will have a discussion to answer any questions that they have and to go over anything that needs to be clarified.
Learning Activities The presentations are the learning activity. The students are taking on the role of the teacher which puts more responsibility and pressure on them to do a thorough job. The students will be expected to take notes during each presentation and to write down any questions that they might have.
Closing At the end of the presentations I will ask if there are any questions or anything that just needs some clarification. During the presentations I would have been taking notes and also writing down questions, this is a good time for me to assess what the students took away from the presentations. I will then address the question of the day which will be, What can cells tell us about life, and quickly get some reactions to the question.
Assessment Assessments for this lesson are both formal and informal; they will be formally assessed on their group presentations and their individual reports. The informal assessment will take place during the discussion where we will address any questions they may have and where I will also be asking them questions regarding the presentations. Homework 2 paragraphs addressing the question of the day.
Unit: Cells
Title: When I say cell, you say__?
Lesson Overview
This is a 2 day lesson that is designed to access students’ prior knowledge regarding the cell an enable them to form connections between the biological definition of what a cell is to familiar types of “cells” they encounter in their lives. During this lesson the students will also generate questions relating to the subject of cells. These questions will be used as research questions that will be presented in class and also be used daily throughout the lesson as opening exercises.
Objectives: Students will be able to...
Materials
Links to Resources
Safety Issues
Safety issues that relate to this lesson revolve mostly around the students’ use of the on-line resources. Students will have to be monitored to ensure the sites that they are viewing are those that are relevant to the topic they are researching and do not contain any inappropriate content.
Instructions: Day 1
Opening
I will start off by saying how the word cell is one of those words that can be used in a variety of ways. I will then instruct them to make a list of any other type of cells they can think of. While they are doing this I will take attendance. I will then ask them to name some of the different types of cells they came up with. I will be expecting to hear examples such as, a cell phone, jail cell, fuel cell, terrorist cell, etc. Their responses will be written on the board. I will then ask based on all these uses of the word cell and your knowledge of what a biological cell is, what connections can be made? What does the word cell mean? I will record their responses on the board; I will be looking for responses such as, a part, unit, compartment, holding separately, etc. We will then discuss how the biological cell is similar to the other cell examples they gave. I will then lead the discussion towards finding out what questions they have regarding the subject of cells. These questions will be written on the board and I will also propose a few of my own.
Learning Activities
The students will then be broken up into pairs. The questions will be numbered and I will write down the numbers on a slip of paper and go around to each group to have them pick which question they are to research. As a group they are to use the rest of the class period (30min) and the resources provided (their textbook and the internet) to research their group’s question. They will all individually be responsible to write their own summation of what they found and the source. As a group they will be responsible to present this information in a cohesive manner to the class the following day.
Closing
In closing I will review our earlier discussion about cells and our connections we made to "cells" we encounter every day. I will reiterate the homework, which is for each group research their question, write an individual summation of the information and present their findings to the class. I will ask if there are any questions.
Assessment
Assessments for this lesson are informal; they will be based on the students’ participation in the discussions and formulation of the research questions.
Homework
The homework will be to finish researching their groups question, write a summation of the information and prepare a short presentation for the class.
Instructions: Day 2
Opening
At the beginning of this lesson I will go over the plans for the day. They will get into their groups and be given 5min to go over their presentation, at the end of each presentation they are to hand in their group paper, if they have one, and their individual papers. They will be expected to take notes during the presentations and to write down any questions they want to address during the end discussion. When all the presentations are finished we will have a discussion to answer any questions that they have and to go over anything that needs to be clarified.
Learning Activities
The presentations are the learning activity. The students are taking on the role of the teacher which puts more responsibility and pressure on them to do a thorough job. The students will be expected to take notes during each presentation and to write down any questions that they might have.
Closing
At the end of the presentations I will ask if there are any questions or anything that just needs some clarification. During the presentations I would have been taking notes and also writing down questions, this is a good time for me to assess what the students took away from the presentations. I will then address the question of the day which will be, What can cells tell us about life, and quickly get some reactions to the question.
Assessment
Assessments for this lesson are both formal and informal; they will be formally assessed on their group presentations and their individual reports. The informal assessment will take place during the discussion where we will address any questions they may have and where I will also be asking them questions regarding the presentations.
Homework
2 paragraphs addressing the question of the day.